This post first appeared on Tallahassee Democrat. The Senate began its month-long recess on August 13 without a completed deal on legislation that could help the millions of Americans still struggling with the economic effects of the pandemic. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Florida’s unemployment rate was 11.3% in July, more than four…
Category: Politics
Ph.D. Spotlight: The Determinants of Vote Choice in Ballot Measure Elections
What types of informational cues do voters rely on when forming opinions? When does it matter for ballot measures? Is newspaper coverage biased in ballot endorsement elections? What types of bias do newspapers engage in? Does the bias of newspaper coverage in ballot elections affect the outcome of ballot measure elections? With an election just…
The Rich Say: Tax Us More to Fight COVID-19
The piece first appeared on The Beacon. More than 80 wealthy individuals are petitioning for higher taxes on the rich to help pay for the billions in new government programs made necessary by the Covid-19 pandemic. This is petition is disingenuous at best. If the wealthy want to pay more to help fight COVID-19, they can choose…
Research Spotlight: Lead Poisoning Prevention Efforts in High-Risk Environments
Plenty of parents in the post-COVID-19 world are struggling with the prospects of reopening schools amid the virus surge. Many parents feel overwhelmed by concerns about the untested efficacy of planned safety measures within brick and mortar schools and are awestruck by the gaping holes in proposed distance learning curricula. It is difficult for parents,…
Gendered Consequences of COVID-19 Emergency Measures
This piece first appeared on Medium. One of the most common measures across the globe to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and reduce public health systems’ stress is the implementation of restrictions on citizens’ mobility and stay-at-home orders. While this measure has proven effective in containing COVID-19 contagion, it has gendered implications because…
How to Fix the Nursing Home Crisis, Now and After the Pandemic
This piece first appeared in the Tampa Bay Times. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused tens of thousands of deaths and more than three million infections, with predictions of many more to come. Nursing home residents have been among the most affected by the pandemic. In some states, half or more of all COVID deaths have…
Teaching Spotlight: How Should and Can We Help the poor? A Course on Global Development & Giving
In the Fall 2019 semester I launched a new undergraduate course titled Global Development & Giving (PUP 4931), which was supported by FSU’s Council of Research and Creativity. I have been visiting poor countries, predominantly in South East Asia, once or twice annually since 2014. These countries include Cambodia, Myanmar, Tibet (China), and, foremost, Laos….
Social Equity: The Predictable Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on Minority Communities
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has demanded global attention as it claims the lives of more than 560,000 humans globally and more than 135,000 humans in the United States alone. COVID-19 death data in the United States by race, reveals a striking image of inequity. The data indicate that there are disproportionate deaths in Black and…
DeSantis’ Coronavirus Leadership Reflects the Prudence Florida Needs Overall
This piece first appeared in the Tallahassee Democrat. Six months into America’s COVID-19 crisis and, remarkably, the virus continues to confound experts. Nevertheless, Gov. DeSantis continues to be attacked as if the best approaches are obvious and clear. In fact, DeSantis, like his peers in other states, is being forced to make severe policy trade-offs…
Research Spotlight: The Impacts of President Trump’s Midterm Endorsements
It’s not breaking news that President Trump likes to tweet. In 2018, he used that social media platform to dole out a rapid-fire of endorsements of congressional candidates running in the midterm elections. During that campaign, he gave out 134 endorsements to 45 congressional candidates on Twitter, and endorsed another 35 congressional candidates at 47…
